And thus, the Spartan fought there
by rexmankill
Summary: After the attack on D6 was repulsed Artyom was at peace, simply waiting for the dark ones to return... however he receives a message from someone he thought was dead, can Artyom find his old friend Hunter in this “special region” before its to late?: AU, one-shot, OOC, mysterious Artyom


Talking ""

thinking ''

me ()

Bold priority events

Italic different language from the main one (so if speaking English then Japanese or German will be this and vice versa) also long-range communications

Disclaimer: I don't own Metro Redux, nor Gate but I do own the OC (original characters) … so yea

D6, Frontline,

The Remaining Spartans of the Ranger order stand in a loose group atop the raised defensive position, each one is covered in blood, either their own, or another's

"Listen up, people. I hoped it wouldn't come to this, but it did, so… fuck." Miller states as he looks around him at his troops, nay, his brothers, each one had proved that they were a spartan today… and yet

"The Facility is rigged for demolition - I gave the order back in Polis. Now that we've lost D6, our only option is to destroy it" Miller continues looking around his troops, they can tell it pains him to say this, pains him to tell them that they will all die

"Count us in sir. what the hell, nobody lives forever… except Maybe Artyom, I wouldn't be surprised if he was found inside the creator perfectly fine thanks to an anomaly or something" Ulman jokes getting a laugh from those present. The man in questions, Artyom, merely flips him the bird an unseen grin under his mask, however, all the rangers look towards the entrance of the station in shock as a strange sound reaches their ears

"What the hell is this?" Miller questions in a panic, Artyom slowly walks towards the front of the barrier, activating his Night Vision goggles trying to see what it was but to no avail

"Shit, not again" one of the ranger's shouts as the roof above them begins to shake and rocks pepper them, Miller realises something

Out of the Darkness roars an armoured train crashing through the defences as if they weren't there, the last thing Artyom hears is miller shouting

"Baaaack! Fall back!" and his world goes black

A short while later

Pain. That is all Artyom can feel as he slowly attempts to move, unknown voices reach his ears

"Secure the perimeter! Cover the exits! Stay alert men!" some voice commands, Artyom looks up seeing dozens of Communist troops rushing into the room he now finds himself in

"Save your voice, Kirillov. Here, there are only dead Spartans…" the General states to his subordinate, Artyom looks up seeing the man behind the attack slowly stalking into the room, a sadistic smile plastered across his face

"Ha-ha. I feel a bit like Xerxes…" the General continues walking closes to a figure on the ground next to Artyom, Miller

"What an Unforgivable waste of men and resources… so many good soldiers lost. And for what? Polis station? The council?" the general mocking questions the dying Ranger as he walks closer

"Ah well… all are cleansed by the fires of Revolution!" the General walks over to millers bearly moving body

"What a pleasant surprise – Colonel Miller!... or, what remains of you…" the general taunts stating the condition the commander is in

"Artyom… it is… time…" Miller barely states as he attempts to crawl towards the man in question, Artyom now filled with determination, begins to hastily pull himself towards the detonator

"And who might this be? Ahhhh… the resourceful young man. Tell me, Artyom, 'Saviour of the metro'… where are you going?" the general taunts as Artyom grabs the switch for the detonator… he begins to turn it… until the little dark one appeared from seemingly nowhere stopping him?

"…Artyom… no need for that now" The little dark one states… and Artyom suddenly sees the world from a third perspective, he watches as the Soldiers of the red line turn on each other like a pack of hungry wolves, those that didn't kill each other were driven insane, by the monstrous dark ones

Three Months Later

Artyom sits in his destroyed room in D6… writing in his journal once again

"Ulman died, like most of the Spartans," he writes adding a "farewell brother" in brackets

"Miller survived and is now in charge of Polis Guards, even though he's confined to a wheelchair" he continues, in brackets, he writes 'still scares me though'

"and Khan just… Disappeared" he writes, and again in brackets, he writes "properly off explaining to secrets of the metro to a kid outside his element- like me"

"He once told me, 'what if this little dark one is the last of the angels sent to save us?' The fact that the little one came back and brought his kin… Maybe that was the pardon and Salvation… for me… for the order… for all of us in the Metro"

"The last light (roll credits) of hope in this Kingdom of Darkness…" Artyom states as he remembers what the little Dark one, nay, the little angel said

"It will be better for everyone if we go away, Artyom. But one day we'll come back. I'll be big then. Goodbye, my Friend" it said… and before I knew it… it and its kin were gone… Will they come back, who knows, all I know for certain, is they will always be remembered

Artyom rubs the bridge of his nose reading what he wrote in with an exhausted gaze… however, he shrugs and turns off his lamp climbing into his bed allowing sleep to finally take him after so long

11 Years Later

an older Artyom once again sits in his repaired room writing in his journal

"It's been 11 years since the Battle of D6, 3 years since the dark ones left, after the battle the reds quickly fell, having the whole Metro against them… And since then the Nazis have had a fallout with Majority of the Metro too… and have now been reduced to all but 4 stations, each cut off from each other and the Metro in general… whatever the Dark ones did during the battle has also affected the rest of Moscow… now the Mutants mostly leave the underground alone, and even people who venture above ground, report them keeping a distance

And everything has been quiet… which while good normal, have left the Order with a lot of spare time, and we have used this time wisely… thanks to the battle more people are becoming Ranger than ever before, mainly so they can learn how a force of less than a hundred men defeated the biggest army in the metro… before the battle, there was less than a hundred of us… now there are over 500 Rangers patrolling the Metro, so what little work there is to do, is usually done quickly

Among these is an old friend, Pavel, I found him sitting in an abandoned station, drinking in the bar, whatever the Little one had done to him had… changed his view, gone was the proud Major of the red line, in his places, was a fierce ranger of the Order, one of the best I might add, last I heard he was off, finishing off the Reds alongside a few other Rangers and the Hanza… I heard he fight with more passion, more determination than most rangers I've come across… and that he is one of the most selfless rangers in the order's history… I hope he finds a few more fellow musketeers in his quest for redemption

D6 has recovered as well, no doubt thanks to the influx of people who joined, who helped put it back together after the red tide struck the shoreline, apparently Miller is loving having so many Skilled people under his command, hell thanks to their efforts we have found another Complex like D6 when we raided the library… well more like ransacked, a dozen librarians are no match for a hundred Spartans thirsty for knowledge… or Secret Military Bases, or just water in general

Anyway, speaking of free time, I've spent it in a different way, whilst I was on a routine surface patrol, in which I met the mother bear... again, but fortunately she let me pass without incident, I received a signal, a signal from a man I thought dead, the man who started this, all of this, Hunter

the message was mostly static, but I did make out a single word

"Help" so, with a little help from a few other, I managed to convince Miller to send out a search party, give the order, which was slowly becoming lazy with the lack of work, a job to do

and so, I now find myself gearing up to set off into the wastelands, alongside a few other Ranger, both new and old

There me, Captain Artyom, I'll be the leader of the expedition,

my second in command will be Vladimir Stronka, a veteran of the order and of the Spetsnaz which it preceded, Miller assigned him to be my... Mentor, in my new task of commanding my squad

Next would be Alexander Anderson, our demolitions expert, a big, boastful man with a questionable sexual preference, still, there isn't a better bomb maker in the entirety of the Metro

fourthly would be Mardon, no last name, our resident armour/weapon maintainer, a kid from the armoury who spent his entire life making and repairing weapons there, he's rather quiet, not prone to talking his mind and prefers to focus on the task at hand, reminds me of someone

next would be Kremlin, our best Markman, guys got better eyes than anyone in the metro, apparently, he can hit a flying demon in the asscrack from three miles away, although I don't believe a word of it, still weirder things have happened

we also have Jonathan coming with us, our own hyperactive pyromaniac whose spent a little to much time around propane, he's our squad's scout

and last, but certainly, not least is Arya, our small she-Medic, but don't underestimate her because of her diminutive size, that knife wound over her eye is from when she killed an Elite SS Solder from the 4th Reich in hand to hand combat, whilst having three broken ribs and having not slept in 47 hours

in order to aid our mission, and to make sure we don't die from whatever is out there we've been given three specifically designed vehicle

There's the Pathfinder, a dune buggy with a Mounted Lmg on the back, its meant to speed ahead of the other two vehicles to scout out a save path, to make sure the entirety of the convey isn't at risk, the thing is fast,

Next is the Battle-wagon, a BTR-90 Armoured Personel carrier, which was recovered from an underground military storage cache, which is primarily used as security for the convoy, should we encounter anything... dangerous

and finally is the Aurora, a Heavy Battlefield truck which is dragging along a trailer full of supplies, food, water, filters and most importantly, Bullets

I Don't know what I hope to find out there, whether I hope to find hunter alive, or simply bury him

"Artyom, Captain, we're leaving in 5 mikes" a gravely, aged voice suddenly states, interrupting Artyom from his writing, Artyom gives a silent nod in the direction of the voice, Artyom slowly gets to his feet, grabbing his notebook, his lighter and a picture of himself and Anna, who appears to have grown a few sizes in the abdomen, Artyom regards it with a bittersweet look before shoving it in a pocket, he walks out the room, walking alongside the man, Vladimir, a tall grey haired man whose face is covered in scars, wrinkles and burns

"Captain, the Convoy is almost ready to leave, Miller himself has dropped by from Polis to wish his son in law good luck, along with AJ" Vladimir continues as the pair continue through D6, passing dozens of rangers

soon the pair find themselves in the armour of D6 Where the quartermaster, patiently awaits

"Well, if it isn't my favourite Captain, I take it you would like your standard equipment ?" the man questions with a smile, Artyom gives a short nod to the man who gives a little laugh, he reaches behind him grabbing a long scoped rifle off the table

"Well firstly would be your Preved, Fitted with an 8X Scope, a bipod, a range finder and an extended 8 round magazine" he states as Artyom picks up the large rifle, before squinting down the scope, he hoists the rifle into an awaiting strap behind his right shoulder, the quartermaster then walks over to another weapon hanging on a rack

"Next is your Bulldog, with a heavy barrel, an extended 60 round magazine, an ACOG and a lasersight/Flashlight combo, which is mounted in front of the angled grip" the man continues as Artyom shoulder the rifle, quickly looking about down the scope before regarding it with a satisfied glace, he places it across his left shoulder blade

"Next is your personal favourite, the Saiga-12, A 30 Round drum mag, along with a heavy barrel, a foregrip and a red dot sight, take care of it it took a while to fix after what happened to it in during cleansing of D24" the man responds as Artyom pauses, before rubbing the back of his head

"Also, Don't forget your Medkits, your filters, and New backpack" the man states as he places an orange case, a pair of round black cylinder and an entire backpack onto the table

"its called a mobile workshop, it will allow you to craft bullets, filter, Medkits and anything you need whilst on the move, provided you have the raw materials required" the man states, Artyom nods as he pockets the medkit and the filters before he dons the heavy backpack

"Artyom, If Hunter is truly alive, please bring him back, there are only a few of us from before D6 still alive, and whilst I have nothing against the new guys, the Order has felt different since that day, anyway, id suggest you get a move on brother, lest you are left behind on your quest" the old man finishes sadly, Artyom gives a nod before turning and wandering off, determination filling his eyes

Artyom meats up with Vladimir, who had been talking with a short man with glasses, black hair and a soft face, the man quickly breaks into a panic upon seeing Artyom as he rushes to salute, dropping a few small objects

"C-captain Artyom, I'm ready for action sir" the man stuttered out as he gave a sloppy salute, Artyom gives his own two finger salute before gesturing for the man to relax, he does, before promptly dropping to the floor, looking for the items he dropped

"Mordon, you don't have to salute every time a commanding officer approaches, especially when you're holding something" Vladimir castrates tot he young man, who merely rubs the back of his head sheepishly

"Sorry sir" he responds quietly as Vladimir merely shakes his head

"Captain, Miller is in the command room, says he wants to see you before you leave, I'll collect the rest of the crew and meet you at the garage" Vladimir states, getting a nod from the Captain, who probably turns and walks down the corridor, a large hole slowly becoming visible, behind him he can hear the old dog assisting the new welp in his recovery task

Artyom soon finds himself alone as he wanders down the long corridor which, despite the influx of rangers, was never the less as empty as it had always been, with most rangers being out in Moscow, either on patrols, guard duty or fighting in one of the many battles against bandits, Communist holdouts and other less favourable groups of humans, however he soon forgets about the lack of people when he finally arrives at the centre of the complex, he pauses near the edge overlooking the seemingly endless abyss at the bottom

"Captain" a stern voice suddenly states as he leans against the railing, Artyom gives a small glance over his shoulder spotting a small, black-haired grey eyed, women sternly marching towards him, he looks forward as the elevator arrives on his level, and a man steps off

"Captain, Arya, so nice to see you again, the large man announces with vigour, behind Artyom Arya pauses, regarding the man with a confused look, said man seems to freeze like a statue, before beginning to flex towards the two

"Why of course it is I, ALExANDER ARMSTONG" He roars loudly, Once again Arya continues to stare, before looking towards Artyom who had both climbed onto the lift and was leaning against the railing and watched the man with an amused look in his eyes

"Anyway, Captain Artyom, it is a real pleasure to work under the command of a ranger for your calibre, I will try to serve with you and follow your every order tot he best of my abilities" she states sternly, Alexader slouches forward upon realising he was being ignored by Artyom, who was now looking at the women, Artyom gives a single nod as the elevator begin to rise, Arya sternly marching off whilst Alexander slowly staggered behind her

the elevator slowly climbs up the side of the shaft as Artyom turns around, now overlooking the large wide open hole

'Still amazed me how humanity could ever build something like this, especially considering the current state of most metro 'building', well calling them the building is stretching it, even for me' he thinks to himself as the elevator suddenly stops

"I still don't get why you like staying so far away from the action" a hyperactive voice suddenly shouts from behind him, Artyom turns seeing a ginger-haired man and a man in a skull mask slowly walking towards him

"Because id rather not die, why put myself at risk when I could simply take their head off from a 1000 meters away" another cold and calculative voice states, the man in the mask

'Kremlin and Johnathan' Artyom thinks as the two men suddenly pause, before the man in the mask, Kremlin, gives a sharp salute, next to him Jonathan examines Artyom in great detail, before giving a lazy salute

"Captain" Kremlin states as he lowers his arm, Artyom nods as he steps off the elevator, the pair of men then pass him, stepping onto the elevator he'd abandoned not a moment earlier

"Hey, Artyom, do you honestly think we'll find this... Hunter, I mean I head the guy was a badass, but its been 11 years since he was last seen" Johathan question a he looks over the side of the elevator, Artyom pauses, looking back at him but he says nothing, only walking away as the elevator began to ascend, Artyom once again found himself walking down a corridor of D6, However the walk was not nearly as long as before, as he stood stopped at ed door, a loud playful voice and a small squeaky voice could be heard from inside, Artyom takes in a deep breath as he grasped the handle, before walking in

"Daddy!" an excited voice suddenly yells as the small figure, a young girl with brown hair and brown eyes, rushed towards him, Artyom kneels as she approaches, wrapping her in a tight hug as the two meet

"Hello Son" Miller states with a warm smile as he walks closer to the pair, a pair of metal augmentation attacked to the stumps where his feet once lied, Artyom stands, holding his daughter in one arm and outstretched the other, firmly clasping Miller own arm

"Daddy is it true, are you really leaving Moscow, can I come?" His Daughter questions, Artyom regards his daughter with a kind glance

"No little one, your father is going somewhere dangerous, I'm sure he wouldn't want you to get hurt" Miller responds as the girl looks over to him, Pouting

"No fair, I bearly ever see you anymore, especially since mom died" the girl responds as Artyom freezes in place, unable to look at his daughter, however, Miller does no such thing

"Now, now Anna Jr, don't be like that, your father is an important man with a lot of responsibilities, the fact he can even see you at all speaks volume of how much he loves you" Miller responds as he grasps the small girl form Artyom's grasp, she merely looks at the ground, a saddened look on her face

"Now Artyom, I hope you've prepared for this, I'm giving you command of half a dozen Rangers, I know you would rather be commanded, Especially after what happened at Outpost 19, but, well you need to learn, I'm not going to be around for much longer, Radiation, battle would and my general age will eventually kill me, and I am planning on naming you my successor, which is why I asked Vladimir to assist you, hell, he's the one who taught me everything I know" Miler continues as Artyom crosses his arm, meeting his father-in-laws powerful gaze, although his face remains impassive miller can tell Artyom is shocked in his mind

'Me, Leader of the Rangers, no I can't, not after what happened' Artyom thinks as Miller continues to talk

"Anyway, enough about that, Artyom, don't you have anything to say, or do?" Miller states forcefully as Artyom raises an eyebrow before he notices all the small boxes and objects littering the floor fo the room

'Shit, its Anna's birthday shes 12 now, I forgot, what do i... of course!' Artyom suddenly reaches for his pocket, Grabbing out an engraved Knife, he looks at it fondly as he slowly walks toward his daughter

"This knife, it belonged to your Mother, I've been holding onto it since... since. she said to give it to you when I felt it was appropriate and well, I fell now is appropriate" Artyom states as he watches his daughter's eyes widened in joy and happiness, behind her Miller gives a small smile, remembering when he did similar with his own daughter, she slowly grabs the knife from his grip, examining it with great detail

"Take care of it little one, and remember, its a tool, not a toy" Miller states as he kneels behind her, however, she doesn't seem to hear him, instead seemingly absorbed by the knife

"Captain, we are ready" Vladimir suddenly states over his radio capturing the attention of the three, Artyom frowns a she gets to his feet, giving his daughter a little pat on the head and walks out the door

"Commander Miller, Councillor Algron is here to see you about what to do with the Hanza rebels" a stern voice states as Miller gets to his feet, he sings walking over to his desk and meddling with his radio

"Roger that, ill be down soon, now Anna, I need you too... Anna?" Miller questions as he looks about, noticing he was alone in the room, however, he is once again interrupted, this time by an angry elderly voice

"Everybody ready?" Vladimir questions as he overlooks the small convoy from his position atop the BTR, infornt was Artyom and Kremlin in the buggy, Artyom driving and Kremlin on the back mounted swivel gun

Artyom gives a thumbs up from his position in front whilst Kremlin nods, Vladimir then looks back seeing Mardon and Jonathan giving two distinly levels of affirmations as he sighs, before climbing back down the hatch into the BTR

"Ranger Recovery team Bravo, Rollout"

Author Note: thanks for reading guys, hope you enjoyed the story, as always if you have any ideas or questions feel free to ask, anyways Chow for now


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